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New guide aims to help tutors and managers to identify broader ways of recognising achievement in adult learning

Moves by the Adult Learning Inspectorate for a "better fit" between inspection and adult learning have highlighted the need to find new ways of recognising students' success that extend beyond easily quantified, end-of-course indicators such as gaining a qualification or finding a job.

Identifying broader ways of recognising achievement in adult learning is the theme of a new publication from the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) - The alchemy of learning: impact and progression in adult learning. Aimed at teachers, managers and providers of adult education, it shows how to identify, maximise and evaluate the full impact of learning on individuals and communities.

The guide aims to help teachers, tutors and managers to increase the impact of learning and identify the factors that make a difference. A key message is that impact cannot simply be seen in terms of ‘destinations' or moving up a qualifications ladder; it may be interpreted as moving laterally - broadening out from existing areas of knowledge and skill, or learning something completely different.

Case studies in the guide provide examples of different outcomes, from volunteering and freelance work, to finding a paid job or moving on to a new course. Examples include:

• managers in a sweet factory that developed a culture of learning amongst employees by providing basic skills and IT training for employees.
• a woman suffering from depression whose self-esteem was restored with the help of a ‘health for life' adult education project in Cambridgeshire.
• a ‘skills for self-sufficiency' project in Somerset for new age travellers, offering subjects like permaculture gardening, herbal treatments, festival first aid and women's self- defence. Nearly all the travellers were new to adult education: 78% expressed an interest in progressing to other courses and some gained employment following completion of courses on festival stewarding and first aid.
• an unemployed man who took a circus skills course on the Isle of Wight who runs a stilt walking troupe but taster workshops in schools.

Pauline Nashashibi, development adviser at LSDA and author of The alchemy of learning said,: "We are trying to look systematically at the multitude of benefits that adult learning can bring to individuals and communities. We need to get better at demonstrating the ‘big picture' of impact within which the case studies and individual learner's stories can become illustration, rather than simply providing anecdotal evidence. This raises questions about how to analyse the less tangible benefits - and there are no neat answers to this at the moment. But attitudes are beginning to change to embrace the benefits of learning that cannot easily be measured. There is an alchemy at work when adults learn, a compound of experiment, practice and magic."

The publication is timely, given the current debates about the changing role of inspection in the learning and skills sector. The recent Success for All consultation paper - ‘Measuring success in the learning and skills sector' - proposes a range of actions to capture success more broadly. These include: retention and achievement of qualifications; value added and distance travelled; learners' satisfaction; learners' destinations and the long-term benefits of learning; measures concerning staff; measures concerning employers; and value for money.

Yet its emphasis is still on quantitative evidence. There are also concerns amongst some colleges that focusing on widening participation and drawing in the educationally disadvantaged may run the risk of poor inspection grades. At a recent policy seminar organised by the LSDA for the Department for Education and Skills there was a strong call for inspectors to contribute more than they currently do to quality improvement and a recognition that the landscape of recognising, measuring and inspecting learning is changing.

The alchemy of learning: impact and progression in adult learning by Pauline Nashashibi is obtainable from the Learning and Skills Development Agency. Tel: 0207 297 9144. Email: enquiries@LSDA.org.uk.

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